Le Tour forced to shock halt

Traffic jam, road repair works cause stoppage

PALAYAN City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines — What was envisioned to be a flying start turned out to be a  torture of a first stage that agonized on the road all day before being mercifully stopped at midday.

 The riders bidded to get off to a good start in the ninth Le Tour de Filipinas. Instead, they got grounded by horrendous congestion in busy areas along the way. 

The competitors charged on but came to a traffic standstill coupled with road works at least three times, forcing officials to altogether stop the supposedly 157.15K pedal from Quezon Memorial Park in Quezon City to the capital city of the Rice Bowl of the Philippines.

As such, the 79 cyclists vying for honors now have to redo things again in today’s Stage Two, a 157.90K ride from Cabanatuan to Bayombong in Nueva Vizcaya, to get the early upperhand in the UCI-sanctioned race.

“After five neutralizations, the commissaire panel, led by chief commissioner Louise Jones, decided to stop the race fue to the unmanageable traffic, which was rather surprising on a Sunday morning,” said Commissaire 3 Lorenzo Lomibao Jr., explaining the said repair works by a water company in Bulacan were not on the table when organizers were coordinating with concerned agencies and officials.

The first sign of trouble happened while the cyclists were passing the roads of Valenzuela, then they got stalled anew in congested areas in Bulacan before things got worse around Plazang Luma in Apalit, leading to the eventual stoppage halfway through the kickoff leg.

Initially, the caravan was to ride in convoy for the rest of the race leading  to the finish line at Plaza Concepcion here but due to the stifling heat – and expected traffic in the last 50K – half of the field opted not to complete the race anymore.

Balik-Le Tour Chris Joven of Bike Extreme Philippines was with a small three-man group that was pacing the race before its calling off.

“Sayang pero para naman sa safety ng lahat iyun (I have no problem with the cancellation, it was for the good and safety of every rider),” said Joven, who made his return after a five-year absence.

At presstime, executives were deliberating what to do with yesterday’s race, whether to award the time of the first finisher to all the participants to maintain a four-stage event or reduce this year’s competition to three laps.

For Stage Two, riders traverse Rizal, San Jose, Carangalan, the famous Dalton Pass Sante, Aritao and Bambang.

“Diskarte lang muna kasi hindi naman lahat ng karera, lakas sa lakas eh. Malalakas sila, pero yung lakas nauubos, yung diskarte hindi (It’s more about strategizing; our rivals may be stronger but they will get drained),” said Joven.

The Le Tour de Filipinas 2018 is co-presented by Air21, Cignal and Cargohaus. Inc.